Yellow House
by Lauretania
Summary: Marinette saved his life when he was just a kid, when everything else was taken away from him. So when a book of Adrian's own making causes Marinette to disappear, will Adrian have the will to live on and find her, and face his own demons in the process? Only time and strength will tell. Magic AU
1. Chapter 1

The crackle was what woke him. Unlike most mornings, a noise had roused him from his sleep far earlier than his automatic body clock, which was rather surprising. He could hear a faint crackling sound, but still half asleep, rolled over twice before actually opening his eyes to see what it was.

By that time, the smoke had already reached his nostrils.

His eyes sprang open and he forced himself to shoot bolt upright out of bed, not bothering to grab even the smallest of his possessions before he scrambled for a way out.

His fingers grappled like fishing hooks against large beams that had fallen over the nearest door, their sheer weight obviously having forced them to drop to the ground after being singed, rather than them protecting/holding up Adrian's ceiling.

He shifted his weight around the beams for a while, hoping that maybe if he just leant the right way against them, they would buckle and move out of the way in just the right manner that Adrian could slip past them unscathed.

No such luck, of course.

There was however, a small gap between the several beams that had fallen. Embers were still emitting from their sides, but Adrian didn't have much choice. He grasped the heated wood between his hands and hosted himself along the beams, ducking his head there, hitching his leg to avoid a branch here, eventually having to hold his breath as the dust around his face turned black and the scent of burning plagued the air.

He started to wonder if the smell of burning flesh was his own, or not, and then asked himself which he would be more relieved to learn to be true.

His skin stuck against the hot wood and burnt quickly, though in his haste he didn't tend to notice it.

Adrian wasn't very old. A mere boy of 6, he had nothing to draw him forward other than his brain's brilliant, hardwired message of 'Don't die', and his brain helpfully screamed this message towards Adrian whenever he so much as got a splinter in his hand.

He continued to crawl forward on his stomach, inching towards the darkish blueish of the night sky that he could see ahead of him.

He pulled himself through the final gap and tumbled onto the grass, only resting for a moment before pushing himself up forcefully and heading into a run.

The village houses were mostly on fire, and the plumes of smoke disappeared into the air like apparitions of animals, some fierce, and some gentle. Those surrounding Adrian seemed like loyal dogs, urging him forward and yet running by his side.

There was little sign of others running. Most of the older students and adults and teachers stood their ground, trying to fight against those who sought to destroy them.

Mighty beasts flew into the air, some were struck to the ground and lay there, limp. Others fought on, lighting the sky in yet more heated fire.

Adrian forced himself onwards to the only place of safety he knew, the dragons guild. Inside lay thousands of tiny globes of power, each with the ability to take the holder to a place of safety.

The room was circular, and around the edges held shelves of the tiny orbs.

Adrian grabbed the nearest and sucked in a breath. As if recognising the magical power that the boy held, the orb encased him in warmth and light, and he took one last glance at his home before the light sucked him in and disappeared.

* * *

YELLOW HOUSE

* * *

The boy sat alone on the bench. He was probably around 7 years old, long blond-brown hair that stopped at around his ears and curled around his face. Large blue eyes stared down at the book in his hand; 'Harry potter and the goblet of fire'. He liked the book because it mentioned dragons quite often, but not very accurately, so it didn't make him yearn for home like other books did. When he had read 'eragon' for the first time the speaking dragon Saphira had deeply upset him, mostly because it reminded him of the older dragons back home who would gather the human and dragon children to lie by their warm bellies, and tell them stories in soft voices until they fell asleep.

Home.

When the orb had travelled him to this strange new world it was as if it had lost all of its power. It blinked tiredly at him sometimes, but it never seemed to contain enough energy to bring him home. He was stuck, and he didn't know what to do about it.

So he sulked and dealt with his current predicament as best he could, reading the world's books and playing their games. He didn't really want to make friends here though.

The literature he had read had portrayed the human children here as bullies, and via his personal experience with them so far, he was fairly sure that it was true.

The first normal school he had went to was hell, and he withdrew from it after only a short while. Then he had ended up in this school, which wasn't much better, he decided, turning his thoughts away from the other children, who were playing just a short way away from him. He didn't care. It would be stupid to become attached to people in this place. He wouldn't be here long.

He had been staying in an orphanage not far from the school, where he mostly kept to himself unless it was required of him to speak.

He didn't like it here. It was awfully dull, and he missed home, but he had to acknowledge that the orphanage was kind to take him in, he supposed.

He was once again immersing himself in his book when a girl with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail approached him. There was a clear curiosity streaked across her face. Streaked, because it was as if she did not want to _seem_ that interested, but couldn't help herself, so overall, though her eyes spoke with curiosity, she smiled kindly; the sort of smile you used when talking to a dear friend.

"Do you want to play with us?" She asked.

Adrian shrugged; a noncommittal gesture that emulated 'I don't care'.

"Why would you ask me to play with you? You don't even know me."

"No one should have to be alone. No matter who they are." The answer was quick and determined, like she had had engraved it at the forefront of her mind so that she would never forget it. It was also surly; the tone speaking the volumes of what she wasn't saying.

And just like that, he had a friend. She pushed him to his feet and held out her hand forcefully, a large grin spread across her face.

"My name's Marinette" She said.

And just like that, Adrian had a best friend.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello, this fic actually got followers more quickly than I thought (I say that but there are like 4 of you :)) so if you guys were interested this fic is named after the song 'yellow house' by softengine, for not many other reasons other than I was listening to it when I came up with this idea, so check em out, I think it's great. Also I imagine Marinette playing the song from your lie in april (piano sonata No.14 (moonlight sonata) 3rd movement, beethoven). Other than that background knowledge, I hope you enjoy this and leave a review if you like :)**

* * *

The notes reverberated off of the walls and into the audience's ears. Marinette was hunched over the piano with that slightly horrible posture of hers. When she played like that, it occurred to Adrian that she never breathed evenly, it was always a sharp intake of breath, then nothing for a minute, like she were under a sea of water.

The school was often like this during recitals, and Adrian knew that technically, Marinette wasn't the most talented pianist there, but that wouldn't stop him from believing it. It was times like this that he really didn't miss home. They never had piano recitals there, or board games, or extensive libraries, you never had the liberty of not knowing someone back home, whereas here, in a town full of hundreds of thousands of people, many people didn't know you, and he enjoyed the privacy immensely.

He wasn't actually supposed to be at the recital, if he were being honest, he was actually looking for Marinette when he had remembered that she would be performing tonight.

The performance soon ended, Marinette rose to her applause and headed out behind stage. She wouldn't stay for the whole thing, he supposed. She didn't really like crowds; would much rather just get her coat and go. It was snowing outside after all.

* * *

It had been 4 years since the portal had transported him here, and yet there still seemed no way to travel back, so Adrian had resigned himself to the idea of staying here somewhat permanently. He had poured time into his grades, and his friendship with Marinette had certainly been reason enough to stay here, even if the world was a little mundane.

That was, until he had found out Marinette was moving. She wouldn't be there anymore, and it was like something had crushed him inside.

Snow fell across her hair. She didn't have an umbrella, and didn't seem to care either. He had thought it was a strange time in the year for snow, being July, but it was more like soft hail.

Snow was something that they never got at home, the only place for snow at home was the ice fields, and they were fairly deadly, ever since he was a little kid Adrian remembered the ice dragons telling stories of the deadly cold, people going and never returning.

Opening his umbrella, he stepped out into the cold to see Marinette standing by the door. It was dark, yet you couldn't see the stars for snow and clouds.

"Hey." She said.

"Hi. It was a good show." Adrian offered.

"Yeah. I just can't help feeling like this isn't what I was meant to do. Like I was made for more or something. Maybe that's just me wishing that though."

"No, I get it. You don't want to be stuck here for the rest of your life, you wanna go out, see the world."

"Well yes, but I've always wanted that. I mean something else. Something more."

Adrian said nothing. Looking up at the sky he could she what she meant. Being denied access to his home, stuck in this reality with only her for company, he had often felt like his existence meant very little. Like he was made for more, and had failed somehow, at the mere age of 12.

They would be leaving to go to high school soon. Probably wouldn't even attend the same place, because Marinette was moving.

He tried not to think about it but the idea of her leaving sent a pang through his heart so painful that he couldn't not think about it.

She would be leaving, and he wouldn't see her again for at least 4 years. It wasn't fair.

"My parents aren't answering, they might be out or working or something so I think I'll walk back." She said into the silence.

"Do you have an umbrella? It won't take long for the snow to turn to rain in this weather." Adrian said.

"No, but I'll be ok, it's not far."

"I'll walk with you." He offered. When she didn't answer, and continued walking, he ran to her side, and covered their heads with the umbrella. He couldn't help feeling the finality of the situation. In a few days they would take their SAT's, a few months after that they would attend high school and decide their future. It all seemed too serious, too soon.

Too soon. Too final.

"I'll miss you." She said.

There was a long pause.

"I know."

"You say that, but I don't think you do. You're my best friend, once this is over, we'll go to college together like we always said we would, and then it's oxford my friend! The future awaits!"She declared.

It was such a free way of thinking, when she said that, a life in this place might not have seemed so bad. Writing books about his home, about dragons and meaning and Marinette and himself in a way that all his favourite writers wrote books that could just as easily be about nothing at all but also be about the most meaningful things in their lives.

He loved books because they were masters of metaphor. An escape. And that reminded him.

"Marinette, I want you to have this, I thought, I know it's late but I'd like you to read it as soon as you can." He said, and offered her a black moleskin notebook with a red cord through the middle of it like a bookmark. She recognised the book immediately, sometimes Adrian would denote tales of magic and stories of honour and sacrifice, and in this book she would write it down for him (since he always said her handwriting was the neatest).

"Did you change it?" She asked, looking at the cover of it.

"Not really, it's mostly a transcribe of a lot of the original stories I told you, but just in a story that makes sense. I'd like you to read it. It's not the original notebook, so don't be worried if you spill something on it or whatever, it's just a draft copy."

They were approaching the front of her house. The door had a glass window in the shape of a diamond, and the window panes hid their faces of glass through curtains and netting. Adrian remembered that there used to be a bench in the front garden, and Marinette had told him that when her family had cleaned it they had moved it out onto the street to dry, and some menace in the neighbourhood had stolen it.

He liked to think that the thief had sat on it and fallen straight through the slats, as the old thing was covered in rot and moss anyway.

"I'd love to read it thank you, I'll start it tonight, and get back to you with my notes and edits as soon as possible." She said, sticking her key in the door. The metal was painted dark blue, and bright bubbles covered it in an intricate design. Yet another thing she wouldn't be able to take with her.

She headed through the front door, before pausing and turning around to look at him.

"You will be careful right? I could call a taxi, it's just the streets aren't very safe at night, or you could call your parents to pick you up from here."

"Don't be stupid I'm only round the corner, and I'll text you when I get there."He said, flashing his phone at her in a way that said 'look I'm a responsible human being!'

"Ok..." She conceded, "but be careful!"

"You say that as if I'm not without your guidance! I'll see you tomorrow." He said.

"Why do I put up with you again?" She muttered, shutting the door on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Marinette**

The stairs were coated with streams of light through one solitary window at the top of the staircase. Marinette ascended up them, a cup full of hot chocolate in one hand and Adrian's book under the crook of her arm.

She reached the top of the stairs, took a right, and opened the door to her room. The desk in the far corner was in the alcove of the front window of the house. She sat at it, hot chocolate in one hand, sipping at it merrily as she opened the first page and began to read.

She had only read a few sentences into the story when the words on the page began to lift from the paper and surround her, individual words spinning around her like boats on an ever-changing sea.

She dropped the book in shock, but the pages did not shut, instead they flicked to and from the pages, causing more and more words to scatter into the air, around Marinette's feet, across the walls, everywhere. She felt strongly overwhelmed, falling to her knees and covering her heads, as if the words were an assault of bats that wouldn't leave her alone.

Then there was a blinding light from the books white pages, they glowed a bright golden-white colour, and without further ado, the words returned to the pages, and Marinette with them.

And then, the book clamped closed on the story and people within with a thud.

Trapped.

* * *

 **Adrian**

It was done. He had given it to her. Done.

He looked around at his vast room. Since he had been adopted he had wanted for nothing when it came to money, but when it came to love, to being truly wanted, there was nothing there.

Now the walls were stripped bare. The sheets were no longer black and red, they were now white and pristine. Everything was in boxes, and it was no mistake for whom the boxes were. On the side of each large box, a single name was written; "Marinette".

He didn't want it to go to anyone but her. All of his things, all of his soul belonged to her now. Inside was a letter, but he wouldn't open it. It wasn't for him. He had written it for Marinette.

No one else mattered now. Only her. And now that she was moving... What was left for him here now?

She would forgive him. She might not understand, but she would forgive. Because it was always others she cared about, never herself.

He would miss when she played the piano. He would miss when they talked for hours straight on the phone. He would miss how highly she thought of him. He would miss the days they would play videogames. He would miss being able to comfort her. He would miss being something that another person was proud of.

He would miss being cherished, and loved, and important, and everything that he _wasn't_ in her eyes.

He would miss her. But she was gone. And only the chasm of where she had once been would remain in his heart, a painful reminder that she never would come back again.

He couldn't live with that.

* * *

Summer was starting soon.

He had stood with her in the rain. He had listened to her play one last time, he had given her his legacy, a novel that in her hands, he knew one day would be published.

There was nothing left now. No home, no lifeline, nothing.

Now he could just be done. Only one more day.

* * *

The night passed in a blur of black. He couldn't sleep. It was as if the time was now to precious to waste on sleeping.

He had tried texting Marinette but there had been no answer. She was probably asleep, after all, they did have school in the morning. Or perhaps she was reading his book...

As he began to close his eyes, a flash of blinding white light seemed to hit him through the window and straight to the backs of his eyes. It was so fast that he questioned if he really had seen it at all, or if it was just his imagination. Within seconds it was gone, and the pitch black of the sky returned once more.

He fell into an uneasy sleep after that, leaving the curtains open afterwards, just in case there was any hint of the flash of light once more.

But there was no trace.

* * *

He awoke from an uneasy slumber. The emptiness of his room sent an eerie, foreboding feeling right to his core. He had wondered why, before remembering. Today was the day.

He threw on his clothes, being sure to wear the light blue scar Marinette had bought for him, blue jeans and a white shirt. Over his shoulder he slung his brown satchel, still filled with supplies from the day before, and padded further towards his bedroom door to retrieve his shoes and socks. Slipping on the socks and knotting the laces of his white and blue dragon printed converse (because even he had to admit without them he didn't really look like himself), he headed out the door, grabbed a pastry from the kitchen counter and headed for school.

All the while trying not to think about what day this was.

It wasn't long until class started when he got to school. He probably had around half an hour before class.

He was waiting by Marinette's locker, but she was nowhere to be seen.

He tried phoning her but she didn't answer.

He asked some classmates but no one had seen her.

That was when he started to feel a gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach, like something was wrong. Adrian shoved it down forcefully, the effort needed to do so causing him to dig his fingernails into his palms, as if his body might recoil to how he was feeling if he wasn't careful.

 _Maybe she's just late again, I'll just have to go to her house and get her_ , he thought, rolling his eyes at her tardiness, but in the sort of way that friends roll their eyes at each other's vexing habits.

Making his way to her house took about 10 minutes, but, in all fairness, he was running rather fast.

He knocked (slightly impatiently) on the door, and waited, his hands resting uneasily on the shoulder strap of his brown satchel.

The door opened, and Marinette's mother stood where the door had been.

"Adrian? What are you doing here?"

"Marinette didn't come into school this morning, so I thought I'd come over and fetch her." He explained.

"But I haven't seen Marinette all morning, I thought she had left for school early today."

"What?"

* * *

 **A/N: So thanks to everyone reading this so far, and please leave a review, thank you :)**

 **-Lauren**


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